Terminated employees replaced

Terminated
employees
replaced
van Pelt replaced
amid realignment
Nicholas Saul
Editor-in-Chief
Former Vice President of Administrative
Services Richard van Pelt, and former Facilities
Supervisor Alfred Hutchings - both under investigation in a bribery probe - were officially replaced
on Aug. 29 when the Board of Trustees approved
of an extensive realignment of the college's executive cabinet.
Van Pelt and Hutchings were fired by the Board
of Trustees on June 18 a week after officials
announced that the Los Angeles County District
Attorney's office was investigating them for "conflicts of interest." The had immediately bee placed
on administrative leave.
The "conflicts of interest" that the DA may have
been investigating pertained to van Pelt's and
Hutchings founding of a company together. The
company Sustainagistics, was based in van Pelt's
Altadena home and, according to data compiled by
the California Secretary of State, specialized in
import logistics.
The District Attorney is moving on with the
probe, but officials are not willing to disclose investigation details nor can they predict a timetable for
completion. "It is a matter of law," said Jennifer
Schneider, assistant head deputy of the District
Attorney's Public Integrity Division.
"The investigation remains confidential and we
cannot predict how long or short it may be. Our
goal is to find out what the facts are.
Ex-col lege officials replaced
amid executive realignment
Continued from page 1
Vice President of Educational
Services Robert Miller has been
promoted to senior vice president and assistant superintendent, according to the realignment. Miller's responsibilities
will now include business and
fiscal services (the former
domain of van Pelt), facilities
(Hutchings' old stomping
grounds) and Human Resources,
another executive office that was
left vacant after an abrupt departure of its supervisor in April,
former Vice President Benedict
Lastimado.
"I replaced [van Pelt] by action
of the board," said President
Mark Rocha in an interview last
week. "Facilities, fiscal services
and Human Resources - [Miller]
is in charge of it all and the board
has approved of three more
directors." Miller's responsibilities will also include Information
Technology, and Safety and
Security.
Vice President of Education
Robert Bell will be similarly promoted to senior VP and assistant
superintendent of academic and
student affairs. Like Miller, Bell
will also be in charge of six divisions.
According to Rocha, the school
has no updated information
regarding the DAs investigation
into van Pelt and Hutchings.
"The rest of the matter is in the
hands of the Los Angeles District
Attorney," said Rocha. "I have
no information since we've terminated those employees. We
have moved on with our business and the DA, I assume, is
moving on with his business."
Since gaining knowledge of
the investigation, the school has
conducted an audit into its own
financial records by hiring the
outside accounting firm of
Vicente Lloyd and Stutzman
which updates the school at
every board meeting.
"So far so good," Rocha said in
regard to the audit's progress. "It
appears that there's been no
financial damage as a result of
the actions of the two former
employees. And thafs about all
we wanted to know."
A report on the audit was
scheduled for discussion by the
Board of Trustees at its
Wednesday meeting.
//
Continued on page 7

Click tabs to swap between content that is broken into logical sections.

Terminated
employees
replaced
van Pelt replaced
amid realignment
Nicholas Saul
Editor-in-Chief
Former Vice President of Administrative
Services Richard van Pelt, and former Facilities
Supervisor Alfred Hutchings - both under investigation in a bribery probe - were officially replaced
on Aug. 29 when the Board of Trustees approved
of an extensive realignment of the college's executive cabinet.
Van Pelt and Hutchings were fired by the Board
of Trustees on June 18 a week after officials
announced that the Los Angeles County District
Attorney's office was investigating them for "conflicts of interest." The had immediately bee placed
on administrative leave.
The "conflicts of interest" that the DA may have
been investigating pertained to van Pelt's and
Hutchings founding of a company together. The
company Sustainagistics, was based in van Pelt's
Altadena home and, according to data compiled by
the California Secretary of State, specialized in
import logistics.
The District Attorney is moving on with the
probe, but officials are not willing to disclose investigation details nor can they predict a timetable for
completion. "It is a matter of law," said Jennifer
Schneider, assistant head deputy of the District
Attorney's Public Integrity Division.
"The investigation remains confidential and we
cannot predict how long or short it may be. Our
goal is to find out what the facts are.
Ex-col lege officials replaced
amid executive realignment
Continued from page 1
Vice President of Educational
Services Robert Miller has been
promoted to senior vice president and assistant superintendent, according to the realignment. Miller's responsibilities
will now include business and
fiscal services (the former
domain of van Pelt), facilities
(Hutchings' old stomping
grounds) and Human Resources,
another executive office that was
left vacant after an abrupt departure of its supervisor in April,
former Vice President Benedict
Lastimado.
"I replaced [van Pelt] by action
of the board," said President
Mark Rocha in an interview last
week. "Facilities, fiscal services
and Human Resources - [Miller]
is in charge of it all and the board
has approved of three more
directors." Miller's responsibilities will also include Information
Technology, and Safety and
Security.
Vice President of Education
Robert Bell will be similarly promoted to senior VP and assistant
superintendent of academic and
student affairs. Like Miller, Bell
will also be in charge of six divisions.
According to Rocha, the school
has no updated information
regarding the DAs investigation
into van Pelt and Hutchings.
"The rest of the matter is in the
hands of the Los Angeles District
Attorney," said Rocha. "I have
no information since we've terminated those employees. We
have moved on with our business and the DA, I assume, is
moving on with his business."
Since gaining knowledge of
the investigation, the school has
conducted an audit into its own
financial records by hiring the
outside accounting firm of
Vicente Lloyd and Stutzman
which updates the school at
every board meeting.
"So far so good," Rocha said in
regard to the audit's progress. "It
appears that there's been no
financial damage as a result of
the actions of the two former
employees. And thafs about all
we wanted to know."
A report on the audit was
scheduled for discussion by the
Board of Trustees at its
Wednesday meeting.
//
Continued on page 7

Rights Statement

Images are for personal research, scholarly and educational purposes. Contact Shatford Library at archives@pasadena.edu for information about the reproduction of images. The Library assumes no responsibility for the improper use of any image from the Archives.